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Rockets 94, Mavs 93 - It's a Win

The good news is that the Houston Rockets held the Dallas Mavericks to 93 points on a 100.1 defensive rating. The Mavs certainly aren't under any pressure to win games, but that's good defensive stat against anyone. The bad news is that the Rockets managed only 94 points on the evening and had to rely on some literal last-second heroism by Chris Paul to save the day. In the end, it was a win, and for now, that's good enough.

This game started ugly and stayed that way. The Rockets never managed to gain a substantial lead, in large part because the team shot 36% from the floor and 30% from three-point range. Harden got in foul trouble early, yet again, and the Rockets were never able to assert themselves in a game against a frankly inferior team. There was no reason for this game to be close, but yet it was anyway.

While it was yet another disappointing outing against a poor team, at least they managed to actually take the win instead of coughing up a big lead and then losing. Overall, this is a game that's best left to the scrap heap of history, including James Harden's dismal 20 points. There's nothing to be done with a clunker like this except to be thankful that they got their 8th win in a row and now move on to face the Charlotte Hornets on the second night of a back to back.

The Rockets will go for their 9th straight win after somehow ending the season series with the Mavs at 2-2.